How much does exit & re-entry visas cost in the GCC? 2026 fees

Not always, and we would rather say so. If your documents are valid and the transaction is available in an app, file it yourself. Paying a service fee makes sense when a submission has already been rejected without explanation, when several authorities are involved in sequence, or when a deadline fine would exceed the fee.

Comparing headline fees alone is misleading, because renewal cycles differ between states. A lower fee renewed annually can cost more over three years than a higher fee renewed every three. Compare the fee and the renewal cycle together, both of which are in the table on this page.

Because the government fee is only one line. Typing or service centre fees, urgent processing surcharges, delivery, medical tests, insurance and translation are charged separately, and providers bundle them differently. Ask for the government fee and the service fee split out before agreeing to anything.

They are indicative planning figures drawn from the issuing authorities and consistent public sources, and they are dated. Government fees change without much notice and free zone schedules are set independently. Always confirm the current amount with the issuing authority before you pay.

The standard single-trip Khurooj wa Awda costs SAR 200 for the first two months and SAR 100 for each additional month, paid through SADAD after the sponsor files on Absher Business or Qiwa. A six-month multi-exit visa stacks the same per-month logic, and a 12-month version costs more again. Premium Residency holders are exempt. Final exit visas are issued separately and cancel the Iqama on departure. Late return adds an overstay fine of SAR 100 per day and can block future entry until cleared.

Only if the sponsor specifically requests a multi-exit permit on Absher Business. A single-trip Khurooj wa Awda is consumed on the first re-entry, even if its calendar validity has weeks left. The multi-exit version allows any number of trips inside the validity window (typically six or twelve months), but each leg still has to land back inside the Kingdom before the expiry date. Plan the longest trip you might take, not the average one, when picking the duration; the per-month uplift is cheaper than reissuing.

In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the sponsor's electronic approval is the trigger for the whole process, so a refusal stops Absher or Sahel before any fee is paid. The worker's options are to escalate through the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development in Saudi Arabia (Friendly Settlement first, then the Labour Court) or through the Public Authority for Manpower and the Domestic Labour Department in Kuwait. Wage arrears, contract breaches or unjustified retention are valid grounds. Domestic workers in both countries have dedicated dispute channels under Musaned and Sahel.

Legally, no. The exit and re-entry visa keeps the Iqama or Kuwaiti residence alive on the assumption that you remain the same sponsor's worker. Taking up paid employment elsewhere during the gap does not break Saudi or Kuwaiti law on its own, but it can clash with the originating contract and, if discovered on return, lead to disciplinary or visa consequences. Short professional engagements abroad are common in practice; full secondary employment should wait for a formal transfer of sponsorship or a final exit.

Entry Permits, Status Change and Re-entry visas govern every non-resident's UAE timeline - from a 30-day tourist visa (AED 350 single-entry through the ICP portal) to mid-stay status change (3-5 working days, no exit required) and re-entry from outside the country (3-7 working days for the entry permit, then the full residence cycle on top). ICP and GDRFA Dubai both issue and link permits to the Emirates ID file; same-day digital tourist visas are issued for many nationalities through the ICP smart app and UAE Pass. The six-month rule is the most expensive trap: one long trip home, one stuck-abroad airspace closure or one overseas project can quietly cancel a standard residence visa even with years left on the printed expiry - re-entry then requires a fresh entry permit, fees and medical from scratch. Always confirm before booking long-haul travel.

The Exit and Re-Entry Visa - Khurooj wa Awda - is the permit Saudi residents need to leave and return without invalidating their Iqama, issued by the General Directorate of Passports (Jawazat) through Absher. Single and multiple variants are paid via SADAD at SAR 200 for the first two months and issued instantly once payment posts; extensions inside the Kingdom are same-day, and extensions abroad work whenever Absher is reachable. Worker-initiated final exit visas through Absher Individuals trigger a 10-working-day employer objection window before issuance; sponsor-issued final exits clear same-day. Iqama validity caps the exit-visa validity, so a 30-day Iqama cannot host a 90-day multiple-entry visa. Two pitfalls dominate: forgetting that Iqama expiry overrides the requested visa duration, and extending while abroad at roughly twice the per-month cost when extending before departure would have been cheaper.

Exit and re-entry covers how expatriate residents leave and return to Qatar. Since the 2018-2020 labour reforms, most workers need no exit permit: a valid QID and passport are enough, at zero cost, and re-entry works the same way through Hamad International's eGates. The main blockers are quiet travel bans from courts or unpaid fines, and the six-month rule that can cancel a residence permit left dormant too long. A small band of essential and domestic workers still need sponsor notification. Wathim's desk checks for bans and files notifications so nothing surprises you at the gate.

In Bahrain, exit and re-entry for residents is handled by the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs (NPRA) under the Ministry of Interior, with checks and visa status verified through the bahrain.bh portal and LMRA's public lookup. Routine resident travel is free and instant in both directions for clean cases through the smart gate; manual-counter cases for first-time travellers, dependants, or anyone with flags take 30 to 90 minutes. Sponsor-side payments and visa-extension charges clear through BenefitPay. Two pitfalls cost residents most: travelling on the final day of CPR validity, which can lead to refused or delayed re-entry even when the underlying LMRA file is fine, and assuming dependants are travel-clear when the principal sponsor's permit has lapsed (dependant status falls with the principal's status). Always re-check LMRA validity within 48 hours of any departure.

Oman residents can exit and re-enter freely - no exit permit or sponsor approval is needed, just a valid resident card and passport. Visitors need a ROP eVisa: a standard 30-day single-entry visa costs OMR 20, a 10-day version costs OMR 5, and a 1-year multiple-entry visa costs OMR 50, usually issued within 3-7 working days. The single biggest risk is the 6-month continuous-absence rule, which silently voids a resident's status regardless of the visa's printed expiry, forcing a full 4-8 week reissuance. Wathim's desk tracks both the visitor's eVisa filing and the resident's travel-day count end to end.

Travel permits and re-entry in Kuwait run through Sahel, the unified MOI Kuwait and PACI digital platform, with PACI Civil ID and Kuwait Mobile ID required for authentication. Sahel issues sponsor-initiated domestic-worker travel permits (typically same-day), handles exit-ban checks, processes residence renewal before travel, and surfaces fines clearance. Lifting an exit ban can take days for civil-debt settlements or weeks for family-court cases. Airport exit and re-entry are minutes at biometric gates when files are clean; manual exception handling can take 30 minutes to several hours. Two common pitfalls: forgetting that domestic workers need a sponsor-issued travel permit on Sahel before flying (the worker is held at the airport and the sponsor cannot issue the permit in time from home), and booking non-refundable flights before checking for an exit ban (discovering the ban at check-in is the most expensive failure pattern here).